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Cootamundra Wattle

Acacia baileyana · Fabaceae
10m
Mature height
5
Councils: no permit needed
0
Councils: exempt under a height limit
15
Councils: permit required
Cootamundra Wattle (Acacia baileyana) growing in Sydney
Cootamundra Wattle · typical mature form

Do you need a permit?

Cootamundra Wattle is exempt in some councils and protected in others, and several exemptions carry a height limit. Check the table below against the council for your address before assuming a permit is not needed.

How to identify it

Fine feathery silver blue foliage and masses of bright golden ball flowers in winter and early spring. Usually a small multi stemmed tree that leans and splits with age.

Where it grows in Sydney

Planted widely and now naturalised through bushland across the North Shore, Hornsby Shire, Northern Beaches and the Hills District, where it hybridises with and displaces local wattles.

Common problems

  • Environmental weed outside its natural range that invades bushland
  • Short lived, splitting and failing within twenty years
  • Suckers and self seeds prolifically
  • Shallow roots and top heavy form make it prone to windthrow

What removal involves

Exempt in the Northern Beaches, Hornsby, Hunters Hill, Georges River and Canterbury-Bankstown, and generally quick work because the timber is soft and the size modest. Removing seedlings at the same time is worth including in the scope.

Council permit rules, council by council

Status below is for a tree on private land that has passed the council’s size threshold. Heritage items, heritage conservation areas, significant tree registers, biodiversity mapping and conditions of development consent override every exemption shown here.
Council
Status
What it means
Northern Beaches
No permit needed
On Council's exempt species list, so no permit is required for removal. Heritage items, heritage conservation areas and significant tree register listings still override the exemption. Official rules
Ku-ring-gai
Permit required
Not on Council's exempt species list, so a tree permit is required once the tree passes the size threshold. Official rules
Hornsby Shire
No permit needed
On Council's exempt species list, so no permit is required for removal. Heritage items, heritage conservation areas and significant tree register listings still override the exemption. Official rules
The Hills Shire
Confirm with Council
Council holds its species exemptions in a document rather than on its website, so confirm this species with Council before treating removal as exempt. Size thresholds apply in the meantime. Official rules
Blacktown City
Permit required
Council does not run a species exemption list. A permit is required once the tree passes the size threshold, and each tree is assessed on its own merits. Official rules
North Sydney
Permit required
Not on Council's exempt species list, so a tree permit is required once the tree passes the size threshold. Official rules
Willoughby
Permit required
Not on Council's exempt species list, so a tree permit is required once the tree passes the size threshold. Official rules
Lane Cove
Permit required
Not on Council's exempt species list, so a tree permit is required once the tree passes the size threshold. Official rules
City of Ryde
Permit required
Not on Council's exempt species list, so a tree permit is required once the tree passes the size threshold. Official rules
Hunters Hill
No permit needed
On Council's exempt species list, so no permit is required for removal. Heritage items, heritage conservation areas and significant tree register listings still override the exemption. Official rules
City of Sydney
Permit required
Not on Council's exempt species list, so a tree permit is required once the tree passes the size threshold. Official rules
Inner West
Permit required
Not on Council's exempt species list, so a tree permit is required once the tree passes the size threshold. Official rules
Woollahra
Permit required
Not on Council's exempt species list, so a tree permit is required once the tree passes the size threshold. Official rules
Waverley
Permit required
Not on Council's exempt species list, so a tree permit is required once the tree passes the size threshold. Official rules
Randwick
Permit required
Not on Council's exempt species list, so a tree permit is required once the tree passes the size threshold. Official rules
Bayside
Permit required
Not on Council's exempt species list, so a tree permit is required once the tree passes the size threshold. Official rules
Georges River
No permit needed
On Council's exempt species list, so no permit is required for removal. Heritage items, heritage conservation areas and significant tree register listings still override the exemption. Official rules
Strathfield
Permit required
Not on Council's exempt species list, so a tree permit is required once the tree passes the size threshold. Official rules
Burwood
Confirm with Council
Council holds its species exemptions in a document rather than on its website, so confirm this species with Council before treating removal as exempt. Size thresholds apply in the meantime. Official rules
Canterbury-Bankstown
No permit needed
On Council's exempt species list, so no permit is required for removal. Heritage items, heritage conservation areas and significant tree register listings still override the exemption. Official rules
It is a native wattle. Why is it treated as a weed?

It is native to a small area around Cootamundra in southern NSW, not to Sydney. In Sydney bushland it spreads aggressively and hybridises with local wattle species, which is why several councils list it as exempt.

Commonly confused with

Golden Wreath Wattle
Both wattles listed as exempt in several councils despite being Australian natives, because neither is native to Sydney

Related species

Golden Wreath Wattle (Acacia saligna) growing in Sydney
Golden Wreath Wattle
Acacia saligna
African Olive (Olea europaea subsp. cuspidata) growing in Sydney
African Olive
Olea europaea subsp. cuspidata
Athel Tree (Tamarix aphylla) growing in Sydney
Athel Tree
Tamarix aphylla
Bamboo (Bambusa and Phyllostachys species) growing in Sydney
Bamboo
Bambusa and Phyllostachys species

Important note on council rules

This encyclopedia is a practical guide for Sydney property owners, not legal advice. Council tree rules change, and exemptions are frequently overridden by heritage listings, heritage conservation areas, significant tree registers, biodiversity mapping, endangered ecological communities and conditions attached to development consent. Always confirm the current rules with your council for your specific address before any tree work begins, or ask us to check it for you.
Photo by John Robert McPherson via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Quick facts

Botanical name
Acacia baileyana
Family
Fabaceae
Origin
Native to a small area of southern NSW, invasive elsewhere
Mature height
5m to 10m
Canopy spread
4m to 8m
Growth rate
Very fast
Foliage
Evergreen, fine, silver blue bipinnate
Typical lifespan
20 to 30 years
Root habit
Shallow and suckering
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